Chapter 12
Hikikomori.
Someone who shuts themselves away at home or in their room for a long time, avoiding contact with society.
I'm that sort, too.
I'm always cooped up at home.
I feel more at ease relaxing cozily at home or playing games. When I focus on something fun, I naturally forget about the people around me.
And that's not a flaw.
“Whew~ That was fun.”
I have good concentration.
I can entertain myself just fine.
That's clearly an advantage!
I just got back after spending the whole day evolving Little Squirmy in Yeoulrim. Especially when we swam together, the excitement and exhilaration were indescribable.
I may not be cut out for childcare, but somehow I'm getting hooked.
Even now, I'm full of the urge to help it grow more.
But before that.
“I should get my own act together first.”
Developing Yeoulrim is my responsibility.
I need to study first.
Knowledge is an option that can work miracles.
I need at least some basic knowledge to take care of Yeoulrim without ruining it.
Let's keep studying.
Biology.
Mana stone studies.
And if that's not enough, all the way through Earth's history of development.
The more you know, the more you can see.
I need to learn as much as possible and use it as a reference.
Then all that knowledge, combined with the wisdom of a veteran who's survived hundreds of apocalypses, will make me invincible.
『The Evolution of Humanity - The Terrestrial Evolution Edition.』
『How Far Can Mana Stones Be Processed?』
『A Record of Earth's Revolutions.』
『What Is the Ideal Form of Evolution?』
“Order complete.”
As part of that, I ordered some books.
There are lots of things online that offer little specialized knowledge or only provide brief snippets of context that are hard to understand, which just makes my head more muddled.
AI is the same.
It would subtly say things that were wrong, or seem not to know much about deeper topics itself.
That's why I'm spending good money on books.
They're easy to understand and full of advanced knowledge.
If I read them alongside research papers I found online, even I should be able to understand a fair amount.
Bzzzt!~
Just then, my phone vibrated.
I was getting a call, and the caller ID said ‘Big Sis Kang Nari.’
It was the name I'd saved myself.
Just in case, I'd added “big sis” so it wouldn't look suspicious if anything happened.
I'd already let go of my embarrassment.
I am Yeoul.
In this newly reborn body.
They say the ones who adapt survive. Adapting to my new life is essential.
I'll have to get used to the way I address people over time.
Enough pointless chatter. Time to answer.
“Big Sis Nari.”
“Yeah~ Yeoul!”
Nari's bright voice came through the phone. For some reason, she sounded excited.
‘Did the mana stone appraisal go well?’
Her reason for calling was probably the mana stones.
A few days had passed since I'd asked her to get them appraised, so she was probably calling to tell me the results.
Judging by her voice, I felt relieved, too.
Maybe the results were pretty good.
But then.
“Want big sis to buy you dinner?”
“Pardon?”
It was right around dinnertime.
She'd proposed that we eat together.
*
“Isn't this place expensive?”
“Don't worry about the money. Come on, sit down!”
An omakase restaurant.
Had she made a reservation in advance?
I sat across from Nari at a table that looked luxurious at a glance.
At 100,000 won per person, it wasn't outrageously expensive or especially fancy, but it was definitely a lot to spend on a single meal.
‘This is strange. She was so upset over 250,000 won, there's no way she'd casually spend 200,000 won.’
Suspicious.
Kang Nari wasn't rich.
She lived in a neighborhood close to mine, and I'd even seen her with a foolish look on her face, trying to get back money she'd lost.
In other words, she couldn't be doing well financially.
And yet she'd reserved a pricey restaurant like this?
And brought me here for free?
Why??
“Hehe~”
She smiled at me.
Far from thinking the money was a waste, she seemed to be enjoying the situation immensely.
“Is it really okay for us to come somewhere like this?”
“Of course~ You gave me so much, Yeoul.”
“Huh?”
“This.”
Swish.
Nari held out a mana stone and a sheet of paper labeled Appraisal Report.
I tilted my head and read the paper.
“Processing Grade: S?”
Appraiser: Min Jeong-woo.
Mana stone grade: D.
Processing grade: S.
Final grade: B.
Purity: 85%.
Mana conductivity: 42.5 mp.
Mana compression: 3,277 mp.
Mana conduction loss rate: 5%.
Appraiser's assessment - Although this mana stone originated as the lowest-grade raw stone, it has the efficiency of at least a mid-grade mana stone.
The paper listed detailed measurements of the mana stone under the name Min Jeong-woo.
I didn't really know what these numbers meant, but one thing was clear.
“My mana stone went from D to B grade?”
“That's right! Now do you understand why big sis brought you to a restaurant like this?”
“Uh…”
“I wanted to show you that one of these is enough to come eat at a place like this. And I wanted to treat you to something like this, too.”
This was strange.
I thought there were a lot of flaws.
It had an S processing grade?
A D-grade raw stone had become a B-grade mana stone?
‘Was I… actually incredibly skilled?’
I remembered that a B-grade mana stone was worth about 400,000 won. In other words, I'd increased its value dozens of times with a single processing.
Then how much had I earned?
I'd carved about ten of them.
“Now you understand, right? So take these mana stones back. I feel bad accepting something this valuable.”
While I was momentarily dazed, Nari took out the other mana stones and set them on the table. It seemed their value was higher than she'd expected, and she felt guilty.
That wouldn't do.
“No, it's okay.”
“It's not okay with me. I have some self-respect. This is too much for me to accept.”
“You already treated me to dinner. Take them. Returning a gift means rejecting the goodwill behind it.”
“I-is that so?”
I had no intention of taking the mana stones back.
I knew mana stones were expensive, but I'd originally promised them to her as payment for her trouble.
There was no reason for me to take them back.
If I ran short, I could just make more.
“Stop worrying and put them away!”
“Mm. Th-then, Yeoul, thank you so much! I'll definitely repay you for this kindness. I really will!”
“It's fine. Why do you have to repay me?”
“Oh, Yeoul, how can everything you say be so adorable?”
This confirmed the value of the mana stones.
The lingering discomfort I'd felt about the pocket money Nari had given me before was gone, too.
From now on, if I ran short of money, I could carve mana stones to cover my living expenses.
Still, since they were so valuable, I wasn't sure I could sell them as thoughtlessly as before…
“Yeoul, how about we go into business together?”
“Go into business together?”
“Actually, this is the main thing I wanted to talk about. You make the mana stones, and I'll sell them for you!”
Nari had beaten me to the proposal.
Come to think of it, Nari used to work as a mana stone broker, didn't she?
Our interests fit perfectly.
This was great, wasn't it?
“Sounds good.”
“Huh? You can answer that so easily? What if I skim some off the top?”
“Because Big Sis Nari is a good person.”
“Well… ahem. That's true. Maybe that's why people come up to me on the street and say, ‘You have such a trustworthy face~’ Anyway.”
“That sounds like a scam…”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
There was no reason to refuse.
This was a miracle.
I carved mana stones.
She was a mana stone broker.
The people whose roles fit together perfectly had happened to meet, and even happened to become friends.
It'd be stupid to throw away an opportunity like this.
In fact, I was the one who should've brought up going into business together.
However.
“I can't make a lot of mana stones right away. Even if I do make them, it'll probably only be a small amount. Is that okay?”
World Power was a limited and precious resource.
If I got blinded by money and used it recklessly at this point, I'd ruin Yeoulrim.
Fortunately, Nari agreed without hesitation.
“That's plenty! I can wait as long as it takes.”
“Even though you don't know how many mana stones I'll be able to make?”
“Of course. More importantly, that reaction of yours means you really did make the mana stones yourself, right?”
“Did you think I was lying?”
“Ahaha… I trusted you, Yeoul.”
“Let's say that's true.”
Contract complete.
With that, we'd added a business relationship to our friendship.
We'd be seeing each other often from now on.
“No changing your mind later, okay?”
“Same goes for you, Big Sis.”
After making a verbal agreement, we enjoyed the omakase together.
Course after course, brought out one at a time by the staff.
From meat to grilled fruit.
Soup and bread, ice cream.
It was satisfying.
I thought that if I made a lot of money someday, I'd want to eat something like this every single day.
Maybe it was because there were so many delicious things.
"Actually, this guild expert saw your mana stones and went crazy. They even grabbed my leg and wailed, begging me to make them your apprentice!"
“That sounds exaggerated.”
“I mean, it was almost that bad!”
“Hmm…”
We ended up talking a lot, chatting about all sorts of things.
We talked about everything from the unexpected incident during the appraisal to how we'd run the mana stone business in the future.
As we talked, a good idea came up.
“All right, from now on, let's sell the mana stones under the name ‘Yeoul Workshop.’”
“Yeoul Workshop?”
“Isn't it a good name?”
“It's just my name. Let me make this clear: I don't want to become famous.”
“Of course. If you don't want to, Yeoul, I won't reveal your identity. I'll be the public face, too. We're just borrowing your name.”
“If that's all, it's fine.”
Yeoul Workshop.
Once we properly started selling mana stones, we'd trade under that name.
Honestly, I didn't mind it.
The name itself was pretty, after all.
More than anything, these mana stones were carved with Yeoulrim's power, so it was actually an appropriate name. It was Yeoulrim's workshop, not mine!
That made me even more motivated.
For the sake of reality.
For our sake.
In the end, Yeoulrim's growth was what mattered.
Yeoulrim's growth was my growth. I needed to work even harder to help it grow.
“Thanks for the meal.”
“Then should we go have a little fun nearby? I learned a new claw machine trick, too.”
“Sounds good.”
But when it was time to have fun, I should have fun.
After dinner, we went to the busy downtown area together.
We wandered around the streets and played claw machines together, completely at ease. I wasn't used to going out and having fun with someone, but it was pretty enjoyable.
We headed home around dawn.
Then, with a much more peaceful feeling.
Whoosh!~
I connected to Yeoulrim.
Time to focus like crazy again.